Robert Plant’s New Album Is ‘Almost Complete’

Robert Plant has been holed up in the studio with his latest band, the Sensational Space Shifters, and according to a recent status update, they're in the home stretch with the elastic-voiced legend's next batch of new material. Plant didn't offer many details: Below a photo he posted on Facebook, the text simply reads, "Sensational Space Shifters album ... lost for words. Almost complete ..." But those nine words should be cause enough for celebration.

A six-piece unit whose members bring everything from plain old bass, guitar and drums to more exotic-sounding African frame drum, violin, and banjo to the mix, the Sensational Space Shifters have been with Plant since he closed the book on his Americana-inspired projects with Alison Krauss and Band of Joy. The group, which he referred to as "a remarkable combination" in a June 2013 interview, toured North America during the summer of 2013 following a well-received run of dates in other parts of the world.

It's always hard to guess which sonic pathways Plant will travel next -- that's part of his appeal, after all. But he summed up the new band's spirit in the same interview, saying, "It’s not about R-O-C-K rock. It’s a melange of psychedelic British urban trance music mixed with the power of delta blues and the spirit of Led Zeppelin. Amen."